Cricket umpire Rudi Koertzen passes away at 73 after fatal car accident
Former South Africa born international cricket umpire Rudi Koertzen has passed away at the age of 73 on Tuesday. As reported, Rudi died after a fatal car accident when he was heading back home from Cape Town after a golf weekend.
Rudi Koertzen was heading to his residence at Despatch in Nelson Mandela Bay but he met with the accident in the Riversdale area and died instantly.
For the unversed, Rudi Koertzen was one of the highly respected cricket umpires. He has refereed in nearly 400 international matches. The South Africa born served as the field umpire in 209 ODIs, 108 Tests and 14 T20Is in his umpiring career spanning nearly two decades.
Rudi Koertzen is the second umpire to have achieved this milestone after Aleem Dar exceeding those numbers in Tests and ODIs. Rudi also served as the TV umpire in 20 Tests, 41 ODIs and five T20Is.
Those who remember the international cricket umpire, would also know that Rudi had a unique style of umpiring. He used to slowly raise the dreaded finger to rule the batsman out, making it a memorable one. Koertzen also use to replace the white cap with a round hat with the sunglasses on it, making it his key dressing.
And did you know that once, he was asked about his favorite cricketer and he names the current Head coach of Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid as his favorite cricketer.
